I have reached a dilemma.....opinions welcome

[srgtlord]

So as many of you know my 1987 little red golf is rusting into peices and is going to require some bodywork. I do not have a welder at the moment. It needs one front shock tower to be welded before it seperates, proper floorboards, and some weld work around the windshield.



 I do however have a rust free 1992 cabriolet with an 8valve carb engine and 3 speed auto.It needs struts all around and probably a complete brake system overhaul.    I do not have any of the diesel mk1 mounts.

I am on a time constraint, I only have until the end of summer. I do not care for the looks of either.
So my question is would you be inclined to fix the red golf, or swap the diesel to the cabriolet? 




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[mystery3]

Could you sell the cabby or trade for a cleaner mk2 shell?

[maxfax]

The bad thing about rust is once it's there, you never quite seem to get rid of it.. And when it comes to strut towers and major structural components things can get hairy.. How bad is it gonna be when you start tearing into it is the question.. The answer is usually, 10x worse than what you planned..

 I don;t know what the going rate on Cabbys are up your way, but Mystery3 has a pretty good suggestion, if you can pull it off in time..  Swapping the diesel in the Cabby isn't too ugly, and I'm sure someone could hook you up with some mounts..  But if you're planning on driving it in winter months, convertibles suck in the winter, I don;t care how insulated they say the top is.. 

[RabbitJockey]

my gf's cabby seems as good as my rabbit in the winter

[maxfax]

I guess compared to a Rabbit there wouldn't me much difference since they have no insulation either.. 

[CRSMP5]

do you have emmissions there?  i do not think the us of a had diesels in 92... if so thats your biggest issue... no diesel no way to get epa resolved...

[billybobf]

down here you can do a diesel swap, just keep it pre 97 on swapped to and swapped from, otherwise its federal diesel smog, in cali, a group of two or three guys passed around a pre 97, post late 80s engine (had to be newer then rig swapping into, older then 97) they passed it around for the ref to tag it diesel, then put in a tdi engine. so paperwork shows legit vw diesel swap, open the hood its a vw diesel. lol.